Raindrops, Teardrops

Sophia sat alone in her darkened bedroom, hunched over her laptop, the screen her only source of light, illuminating her pale, weary face and making the dark circles under her eyes even more prominent. Although it was late, she refused to go to bed until she finished her latest remix. It utilized that girl's voice, of course—the mysterious, beautiful blonde whose haunting, enchanting songs echoed up to her window from the local park every day—but it also utilized someone else's. It was a first for Sophia. Typically, she only used the blonde.

But after perusing YouTube for a good backing track to the blonde's vocals, she stumbled upon a cover song, haphazardly recorded. The camera was so shaky and blurry that all Sophia could make out was short, purple hair, and bright, blue eyes, similar to hers, though her hair was bluer, and her eyes were darker. Despite the camera's poor quality, though, the microphone was excellent, just as the purple-haired girl's voice.

"To cry, to love, and to cry again... Tears, like rain, fall from old memories. To walk with no umbrella through that rain!" Her voice was strong and powerful, but Sophia's sharp, keen ears could detect a quiver. The girl was crying. Under ordinary circumstances, Sophia might've written it off as unprofessional, to weep in the middle of a performance, no matter how tragic or moving the piece. But when this girl sang... The video got blurrier as the song carried on, and only at the end would Sophia realize it was because there were tears in her own eyes now too.

I... I... I... I have never been moved this way before... except by... Her. Without a second thought, Sophia played with the purple-haired girl's voice, later adding the blonde's. It's not that I want them to collab... The mere thought sent a pang of jealousy surging in Sophia's chest. But that purple-haired girl... Her song and voice... I would love to hear the blonde sing like that. She sings arias, and sometimes there is melancholy in her tone, but it is also tinged with power, almost even to the point of rage. This purple-haired girl, though...? She is... something else...

ooo

"Let it rain a little, little, little, little. As it is, we'll always drop... Hiding 'neath an umbrella! Stop these raindrops, raindrops, in my heart..." Eyes closed, Saori's whole body swayed to the melancholic music with the gentle backdrop of rainfall coming down from the ceiling speaker above. Even her eyes were experiencing their own little fall of rain, growing misty beneath her eyelids. It was just so beautiful! And sad! Aching and yearning, exactly the emotions Saori loved and loathed the most. #Relatable, right?

And she couldn't help but admire the mastery of the composition as well, even down to the way the vocals rose up on the line "It's pouring, pouring, pouring!" Despite the lyrics being associated with a downward motion, pouring, the scale of the music went up. It was so clever that it was brilliant! Truly, whoever wrote the song must've had quite a mind for music! And Saori couldn't help but imagine herself singing in the rain too, perhaps sitting alone on a swing set at an abandoned playground, rain falling down all around her. It was the epitome of sadness and emo(tion)!

The moment the song ended, Saori jumped up from her seat, suddenly overcome by a wave of inspiration. Even though the song was currently only available on radio, not yet released to own (e.g., streaming or physical copies), it was catchy, and thusly, catching on in popularity. It didn't take Saori long to hear it again, and it took her even less time to whip out her phone and snag a recording. Once she had the sample all to herself, she plugged it into her computer and got to work, remixing it and adding her own vocal tracks alongside the core four of the original song.

ooo

"Hmmm?" Sophia lifted her dreary, weary head from her arms as she heard a notification ping. Oh! Would you look at that? A channel she didn't even remember subscribing to had uploaded again after literal years of silence. For a moment, Sophia didn't even know who it was, but the moment the video began, memories flooded back. I know this song... and... wait! Oh my—! I- I- I- know THIS song too! I- I- I- wrote it!

"To cry, to love, and to cry again... Tears, like raindrops, raindrops, fall from old memories in my heart. As it is, we'll always drop... So let it rain a little, little, little, little. Walk with no umbrella through that rain, hidin' 'neath no umbrella. To cry, to love, and to cry again, in my heart!"

Even after the song was over, Sophia could only stare, only half-aware of her reflection in the black screen of her laptop. Then, before her brain even knew what it was doing, her fingers dragged her along, flying to her DJ software. It was her! The other girl with short purple hair and wide blue eyes! Apparently, she was just as much a DJ as she was a singer, another commonality with Sophia, and she was back after years of silence. Sophia felt obliged to answer, whether she wanted to or not. Her very soul cried out, forcing her to respond in kind to her kindred spirit.

I notice, despite the pain of the song—in which she even managed to amplify the grief—she left out the part WITH the umbrella, but left in the part WITHOUT... An ordinary person likely would've written it off as a simple, stylistic choice, but Sophia knew better. My kindred spirit, this was intentional. While I and my unit sang of longing for the pain to stop, hiding 'neath an umbrella, you wished to walk through every rain-soaked, tear-soaked memory bare and exposed... Yeah. She could do something with that.

ooo

"Dang, Saori! You didn't tell me you were an Abyssmare stan!" Rika all but tripped over her feet as she raced after the other girl, trying to catch her as they made their way across campus to their next class. "So, you finally got into and fell into the Abyssmare?" she snickered.

"The heck are you going on about?" Saori scoffed. Everyone knew Abyssmare was the main rival of the Japanese DJ units. Rika responded only by shoving her phone in Saori's face. Scoffing again, Saori grabbed Rika's arm to hold it steady as she tried to focus on what Rika was showing her.

"Wait... THAT WAS SOPHIA?!" Several passing students paused to give Saori a confused look, which she returned with an awkward smile and wave while Rika smirked. Saori's eyes whipped back to Rika's phone, which was playing a mashup of two songs she knew all too well. She just hadn't realized "Raindrops" was an Abyssmare song at first, because it was so different from their usual genre that Saori was more familiar with.

"Raindrops, teardrops, in my heart. Hiding 'neath an umbrella! Cry again, love me again. Stop these old, falling memories! Or walk me through that rain. And let it rain a little, little, little, little. Walk with me through that rain, for as it is, we'll always drop, won't hide 'neath an umbrella. These raindrops, teardrops, in my heart!"

"Jeez, Saori, you two trying to have an emo competition, like, who can out-angst the other?" Rika teased as the song quietly ended.

"What?! No!" Saori snapped, irritated more by Rika being a mood-killer than joking about her fighting with Sophia. But as soon as she was home, Saori flew to her laptop. This time, however, she didn't boot up her DJ software. Instead, she checked her email and began a correspondence.

Teardrops, raindrops, as it is we'll always fall, so walk with me through those old, falling memories, hiding 'neath no umbrella. These teardrops, raindrops, in my heart. Before long, Saori got a likeminded reply, and soon, a call began, four blue eyes meeting through the screen once more, this time in real time. Music and rainfall filled the air for the rest of the night.

AN: Based on that "Let's See Your Specialty!" card story between Saori and Miyu when she sings increasingly sad songs and calls them hype, ending with an angsty song about... raindrops (in my heart! cue Abyssmare).

AKA in which Saori was as emo as Abyssmare before Abyssmare. She could fit right in as their honorary fifth! /hj

So yeah, just a random, funny little AU where Saori actually inspired Sophia (and then vice versa, in case their first card together didn't show how similar they were already LOL)